water behind a stringer

I have been working on the Mustang the last couple weeks. Steering cable, rudder packing, some wiring, cleaning up the bilge area.
I noticed a teeny puddle a couple of times near the pylon mount. Knowing I had wiped this out more than once, I cracked a beer and watched, and waited... About halfway through my beer, I see a little dribble coming from behind the primary starboard stringer approximately where the back of the drivers seat is. <sigh> <expletive NOT deleted>
While the floor panels were up I had poked around a little and had found one little damp spot on the starboard side below the gas tank, but that has since dried. I knew at some point i should probably pull the actual floor up and really look.
Apparently the when part has been decided for me...
I have a large heated shop and most, if not all the tools I will need. And the time, with 5+ months til the lake is ready again. My lovely wife thinks i always need a project going, and since I have recently finished renovating her horse barn, I may as well make her boat the next one.
I am starting the process of searching the forums, reading the Great Pumpkin story, etc.
I am going to need some help, ideas, and encouragement from the dudes here.
I would like to start getting after the floor tonight. I had read the circular saw method and the sawzall method. If by some reason my stringers are still good, I would like to have a reference point from the old floor, so I think I want to leave a couple inches around and go with the circular saw set very shallow, 1/4 - 3/8".
Any initial comments, moral support ? We'll be talking a lot over the winter !!

thanks in advance.

Mike

Are you sure the water isnt coming from the battery box? My Skier's box has a drain into the bilge through the primary stringer in that location.

Positive on the battery box. Mine is raised up, and I have never seen water in it. The battery does not even go all the way into the floor under the drivers seat. I will take a pic of the suspicious hole, however, no two ways about it, I have water in there.

Take a pitchfork to that foam it will be gone on the double quick and come out cleanly and in big chunks.

WakeSlayer wrote: I am only using a putty knife at the moment.

Holy hell.

Before you know it you'll be swinging a flat bar like a hammer and prying the foam out in big chunks. In larger areas, the pitchfork sounds like a good idea. The hull is thick, no need to be gentle!

TRBenj wrote: WakeSlayer wrote: I am only using a putty knife at the moment. Holy hell. Before you know it you'll be swinging a flat bar like a hammer and prying the foam out in big chunks. In larger areas, the pitchfork sounds like a good idea. The hull is thick, no need to be gentle!

Tim I've got the picture in my head of The History Channel digging up dinosaur bones with a tooth brush
Hang in there Mike,I used a prybar and my favorite, a garden trowel

I used a gasket scraper on the mustang eventually moved to a flat bar, started with a flat bar on the 83 did maybe an eight of the foam the night I cut out the floor, next day I saw BKH suggest a pitch fork, half hour later all my foam was gone. Best part was that when it comes out in big chunks you dont have to scrape thin layers off the fiberglass as you can lose a lot of time there.

Similar story with the sawzall, it can be a big time saver, on the 2001 hulls the only place to use extra care with the sawzall is the pockets in the sides in the back two feet of the hull, they are only about an inch under the floor and if you follow the hull back with your blade too far back there you will not be happy.

once everything is cut out I will use a comercial de-humidifier to pull the rest of the water out until it is completely dry, with the cover on.
you could also substitute a dehumidifier with a window air conditioner and use the cover as a barrier to close things up. this process really speeds up the drying out process

I got some more foam ripped out tonight. The flat bar is way, way better. I am moving into pitchfork territory tomorrow night.
I have made a couple observations. Someone has clearly messed with this boat before as the motor mounts are goofy, non-matching, and have me a little concerned. I also think there has been a little work on the area around where the exhaust goes through the floor. I found a 1975 penny in the area under the floor behind the exhaust. Clearly, that is not original...
I feel like the wood looks really good considering the amount of water I have found. Still cautiously optimistic there. The only piece that I have found that is soft is a small flat piece of plywood, mounted perpendicluar, separating the chamber that the exhaust goes though from the frontmost part of that channel.

I made really good progress the last couple nights. Have a another garbage can and 8 bags out. I am sticking with the flatbar as it works great. I have the wrong pitchfork for doing this... You would have to have the one with the fat tines on it. The bow was totally dry. The starboard side of bow was soaked, but the port side was perfect and looks new under the foam. I also found what I believe to be the culprit. There is a 5-6 inch patchjob in front of the drivers seat. This had to have been patched from the outside, and could well be the reason the boat was painted, too. Will get the rest of the foam out today. Motor out tomorrow, then start drying for a few days. I am still really confident about the wood. Only a couple small cross supports appear to be suspect.

Pete - You forgot to mention that WakeSl should use epoxy resin to patch the inspection holes.

Mike, The holes saw just cuts cleaner and neater than the spade bit and yes, you'll get some decent shavings out from the pilot bit. I don't think you'll get much life out of the spade bit cutting the glass ether. You're just removing the glass on the wood and not a "core".

With the stringers exposed, you'll be able to go "exploring" pretty much anyplace. Aft bottom corners, bottoms of low spots (near the bilge drain), close to the 1x3 let in strapping and near the battery box are good spots to go looking.

I finished removing all the foam today, and pulled the motor and fuel tank.
The port side looked way better as far as water in the foam and overall appearance underneath. I feel the very first foam I removed was by far the worst.
We used my tractor to lift the motor out and set on the dolly. Fuel tank was simple, and is really good shape other than the gastket for the gauge sending unit. Exhaust hoses were simple, but need replacing. I think I had very slight leaks at the outlets. There was a small amount of rust at a couple connections.
I removed the steering cable I just installed. I have some cleanup to do and just little bits of foam left in the nooks and crannys. I will remove the wire harness, stereo wiring, battery cables, shaft, and starboard exhaust hose tomorrow, and let her sit and dry a bit with the dehumidifier.








Mike

I have some delamination on the main stringers, and am in the middle of trying to cut it off with the dremel wheel and an air driven cutoff tool. This is a total PITA. The wood is damp underneath, but no glaring signs of rot. I have been up an down both stringers with a hammer and they sound solid. They are, however, somewhat discolored in spots. The parts that have been exposed for a couple days look noticeably better than when initially opened up. I feel like I should just roll it outside and get out the grinder to get all the glass off. Should I use a grinding wheel or 36grit or rougher sandng wheel? Seems like the wheel would rip through it better. I really would prefer to do this on a nice breezy day like Saturday is supposed to be, than in my shop.
Have suit, respirator, and goggles ready.
I hate the itchy stuff.

Noted. I was just testing the waters with the others, trying to keep the dust down, etc. Pretty sure that I have them in the grinder case.    Thanks Joe

Mike